NFL Draft Triple Take (S), April 15, 2022

NFL Draft Triple Take (S), April 15, 2022

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well everyone, and welcome to another edition of NFL Draft
Triple Take, presented by U P m C. Mike pursued It, Dale,
Lolly and Matt Williamsonet's right, we're still at it. We're
relentless that way. We keep pounding it up in there
and moving the chains as we get closer and closer
to the NFL Draft. If you're not ready by the
time that rolls around at the end of the month,

(00:22):
it's not our fault. Today we take our second look
at the safety position. Before we do that, I want
to remind everybody can catch all of these shows on
all of the Steelers social media platforms. We're just about
done with our a further review of the prospects position
by a position, and uh, you might be aware, but

(00:43):
in case you're not, the way we're doing it the
second time around is we are giving you a riser,
a faller, and a sleeper at every position. Today it's
the safety position. The first look was the top five.
Today we're just gonna give you some highlights. But I
knew this was gonna happen eventually. Uh. There's been a
lot of agreement between Dale and Matt, who do such

(01:04):
a great job on the drive on SNR and those
those great minds have been thinking alike a lot. But
uh today we're we're almost uh all in agreement. Uh.
Matt and Dale agree on the riser. Matt and I
agree on the faller. Okay, I guess I guess you
guys are smartening me up a little bit. There you go.

(01:26):
We're creating a seal here and a seal there, Mat, Mike,
and we're running todaylight I'll ye. And that's the way
we like it. Uh, Dale, why don't you kick it
off with your riser at the safety position. Yeah. It's
Nick Cross from Maryland and uh you know he he
went to the NFL scouting combine and ran a four
three four forty at a thirty seven inch vertical jump.

(01:47):
It's six ft two and twelve pounds. Uh. You watch
his his tape. He he likes to bring the wood
as a hitter. Um, he's got great closing speed. Uh.
You know, if you look at the statue what he
did last year, sixty six tackles, three interceptions, three sacks,
two forced fumbles. I mean he just filled it up.
And oh, by the way, you know who his uh

(02:08):
college roommate was, that would be that would be one
Dino Tomlin. Um, so there another another person in this
draft process who has ties to Mike Tomlin. I don't
you know, just throwing it out there. I like Cross
a lot. I mean, he was heavily recruited, he has
a track background, he plays fast, uman he is really aggressive,

(02:33):
as Dale said. And then my last little nugget on him,
I just noticed this late in the process too. He's
the youngest of all the you know, top safeties in
this draft, so then probably the best is ahead of him.
I went with Louis Seen from Georgia, and I don't
know if he qualifies as a riser so much. I
had him fourth out of the top five when we

(02:54):
did this position the first time. But I've gone back
and looked at the National Championship game again since then
in a little of the combine stuff, and I had
this guy underrated. Man. I I don't know if it's
because I was already fixated on the rest of the
Georgia defense that's available for selection. You know, Devonte Wyatt
and uh Trayvon Walker and uh the other defensive tackle

(03:18):
on blanket on right now, Jordan Davis and uh the guys. Uh,
ask you guys about that, because I've gotten this question
a lot in some different places. With so many guys
on that defense, is it possible that some of those
guys maybe weren't as good as what we think they
were just because they were staying I mean, they were
basically a pro team out there playing against college team.

(03:41):
You know, Dale, I thought about that going through the process,
and when I came up with as we near the end,
here is they're all very good, and they know how
to play on a very good defense, and they know
how to trust their buddy, and they know how to
do their job, and you know the in some ways
it's giving you. It's given you a little bit of
a preview of what they can be as a pro
because they're gonna have good guys around them at the

(04:02):
pro level. To absolutely, I think they're almost underrated in
a way because nobody has the eye popping stats. Because
there's so many guys making place, you have to beat
everybody else to the ball. I mean, you know, you go.
The only defenses that I can even remember, pro wise
that are in this league are the you. Back when
it was the you and all those guys came to

(04:24):
league and didn't disappoint, you know. I mean, I think
there's a precedent there. I worry a little bit about
the second level guys as well as seen because and
this is probably more more of a the Kobe Dean
thing because they're not taking on blockers. I mean, their
life pretty easy to run and hit because of what
the big men do. And I know it's not the
d tackle show, but you know, Jordan Davis, Oh, could

(04:46):
he play a lot of snaps? I am very much
on the you know, the the island that he'd play
a lot more snaps on different teams. When they're winning
by fifty in the fourth quarter, you don't need Jordan
Davis out there. And there's two other stud defensive tackle.
You know, he doesn't play on third down? Well, he
played on third down of the schools. Yeah, who's the
guy that's not coming out yet? Carter? I forget his name,

(05:08):
get after the head of the other guys. Yeah, I
think it's I think it's Jalen Carter, umber eighty eight.
But like a lot of people I perceived seen as
a thumper hitter, I think he's way more than that.
He ran really well four point three seven and then
I went back and looked at one of the interviews
or one of the reports that Stacy Dale's did at
the Combine on the NFL network, and and she talked

(05:29):
about scene, insisting that he's the guy who lines everybody
else up right when they're wrong, and he's a leader,
and don't think of me just a hit her. He
is a ferocious hitter. Against Bama, he was covering the slot. Uh,
he made a play on a blitz pass defense on
a blitz. I think he's got a lot of game.
And I think, you know, again, Uh, this guy maybe
isn't Davis or Nakobe Deane or Devonte Wyatt or tray

(05:54):
Von Walker, but it's pretty good. And Mike a lot
of those lines of what you said about the combine
with him. I heard multiple sources saying he may have
been the best interview at any position because of his
football intelligence, rating, recognition, mission skills, those type of things.
And he's off the charts that way. So yeah, adds up.
I think he's a complete package of safety and I

(06:15):
like his game a lot. I like his where he's
been playing with those other great guys, playing in big games, achieving.
I think I think you're gonna hear his name sooner
rather than later. Matt. We agreed on the faller barone McKinley,
the third from Oregon. Yeah, and I had a hard
time really finding a true faller. But he's small and slow,

(06:38):
you know, I mean that's not exactly the best combination.
I think he may have hit his head on the
ceiling a little bit. Is a very good college player,
good ball skills, productive. I like the way he plays,
I like his tape. But he runs a four six
five and he's not not two hundred pounds. Um. You know,
he can play the slot, but is he gonna be

(07:00):
would have handle the big slots? Is he quick enough
for the Welkers and Nettleman so? And he's also not
a tremendous tackle their tackler. So I think all those
things hurt him at the next level a little bit. Yeah,
you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna agree with you that
he's not, you know, a plumbering faller. But I guess
I thought I would see more from this guy, more wild,

(07:20):
more sizzle, because he made a name for himself, at
least to me, throughout the season. You know, the first
team All American uh captain of the team. Uh. Highly
productive out there. He had a bunch of picks uh
six of them to lead FBS this past year. And
I heard about his resume and his his decorations, and
I thought, Wow, this guy is gonna be really good.

(07:42):
And what he is is a five eleven pound guy
who runs a four six five. So, uh, you know,
he's certainly not ascending. I don't know if he is descending,
but Dale, thankfully you've come up with a different direction
in which the head here. Yeah. And I was in
the same boat as you guys, trying to find a
follower in this group. I think a safety groups kind

(08:03):
of underrated overall. But I went with jan Yer Thomas
at a Georgia Tech and, uh, you know, he's a
box safety and I don't know that they're you know,
box safeties are are super. Everybody wants that in today's NFL.
They really are. And then you know Yead and the
fact that he ran a seven three three uh his

(08:24):
his seven three three uh three cone was in the
six percentile. Uh you know, so, I mean, and he
didn't run a forty, So that kind of tells me
he's he's probably a lot slower than than what we
think he is, doesn't change direction real well. He's a
box safety those guys, you know, maybe he's a special
teams guys something like that, but he's probably not gonna,

(08:45):
you know, be an immediate impact guy like a lot
of these other safeties in this class. I have an
opportunity to be. Yeah, that's a that's that's a pretty
solid pick there. How about a sleeper deal? I'm going
with J. T. Woods and A Baylor. Uh you know,
I don't know if you could be a sleeper coming
out of that bailor defense. Uh, but after these shows.
You did Baylor's fight song, I'd sing it right now.

(09:11):
He's six pounds U ran up four three six forty
at the combine. He had nine interceptions the last two seasons.
I mean, what more don't you want? And this guy
is not even considered one of the top five or
six or even seven safeties in this in this class. Uh,
you know, he's got production of thirty nine and a
half inch vertical. I mean everything's there, a production off,

(09:32):
you know, the the ability to to make plays and
just it's it's all there, and everybody's gotta sleeping on him.
That's the guy that calls himself the heartbreak kid, right, Yes,
I believe so, Yes, because he breaks the hearts of
those who who dare to come at him. Matt Uh,
You've got a different selection, but another pretty intriguing guy

(09:52):
as well. Yeah, Tyson Anderson from Toledo UM came to
Toledo as a big corner six to almost pounds at
the combine, ran a four or three six at the combine,
and he still has some recognition things to work out,
and the speed of the game might take him by
surprise right off the bat coming from Toledo, But he's

(10:14):
really considered a smart guy with great intangibles. He looks
like a stud special team or from day one that
just has tools, you know. I mean everyone wants to
work with guys with his heightweight, speed combination, and he
has good tape to go off of two. So I
think he could really develop into something as this with
the who would who would Al Davis have drafted out

(10:35):
of this draft class twenty years ago? When Al Davis
just drafted the fastest guys available. There's just but there's
so many of this trip. Yeah, it's ridiculous. I don't know.
I can't remember a draft class with this kind of speed. Ever,
while you're saying that day, I'm actually looking at this chart.

(10:57):
All these guys were sub four four, either their pro
day or the combine. Dax Hill, Lewis sen Um, Nick Cross,
Tyson Anderson Taylor from Tennessee, uh J T. Woods you mentioned,
and Percy Butler from from Louisiana. All those guys are
below four four. I mean Al wouldn't know what to
do with himself. Yeah, I'll I'll give you your Tyson

(11:19):
Anderson Matt encounter with my sleeper Mark Keiths Bell from
Florida A and now not quite under four four, but
the four point four one at six three two five pounds,
we're talking height weight speed guys. I'll take this guy
as a height weight speed guy with length. Uh. Pretty
aggressive tackler, if not necessarily the surest of tacklers. But

(11:41):
he's only played the twenty three games at Florida A
and M. He's a Juco transfer, actually the transfer from
Maryland initially. Yeah, he mean he was at Maryland initially
and got dismissed from a team before he ever played
a game there. So okay, well, Judico in between there,
I picked him up at Coffeeville, Kansas Community College. There
you go, reinvented himself. Imagine him and Nick crossing the

(12:04):
same secondary. Yeah, you know, you got the guy with
some length that can run and likes to bump. We
can work with that, can we not? So, Mark Marquis
Bell if I'm pronouncing his name correctly, Once he wakes
up and announces his presence with authority, will all get
that right? That is gonna do it for I agree
with Lollly, a very uh maybe a little underrated safety position,

(12:26):
a lot of intriguing guys as there seemed to be
all over the board. Don't forget there are more of
these programs to come as we continue getting ready for
the draft, getting you ready for the draft at the
end of the month. And uh, you can catch all
this stuff on all of the Steelers social media platforms.
So catch up, you know, further review it yourself. There's
not gonna be a test or anything at the end,
but a lot to take in here in rapid fire succession. Uh,

(12:51):
why not watch and listen and take it in all again.
That's gonna do it for us, For Matt Williamson and
Dale Lollly. I'm Mike. Pursuit of this has been the
NFL Draft Triple Take, presented by U p MC